Shaft-mounting for centrifugal machines.



M. L. HOYT. I SEAFT MOUNTING FOR OENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.16, 1909.

Patented Mar.18',1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

MATTHEW L. HOYT, 01? LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO D. H. BURRELL .86

' COMPANY, 01? LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK.

SHAFT-MOUNTING FOR CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

Application filed October 16, 1909. Serial No. 522,946.

citizen of the United States, residing at Lit-.

tle Falls, in the county of Herkimer and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shaft-Mountings for Centrifugal Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in self-centering shaft mountings for centrifugal machines of the general character disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 850,477, granted April 16, 1907, to myself as assignor to D. H. B'urrell & Co. These mountings are used for upright shafts .or spindles'which rotate at a high speed and in which the load is applied to the shaft or spindle above the bearing, as, for instance, in that class of contrifug'al cream separators in which the bow] or drum is mounted upon the upper end of the shaft or spindle, the bearing being designed to allow the shaft to'center itself and run in the natural axis of rotation o'r axis of gravity, so that the bowl or drum will rotate without vibration at the high speed at which such machines are operated without requiring the bowl to be balanced with absolute accuracy.

The object of the invention is to. improve, simplify and cheapen the shaft mounting and to produce a self-centering mounting which is very eflicient in allowing the selfcentering action of the shaft or spindle and which operates with very little friction.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a centrifugal cream separator provided with a shaft mounting embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a section of the self-centering supporting bearing and adjacent parts, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

A represents the bowl of a centrifugal cream separator and B the upright shaft or spindle, to theupper end of which the bowl is secured and which is rotated by suitable gthrough the inner bearing ring, the balls mechanism, not shown.

C represents the stationary frame provided with a bearing or bushing D in which f I in turn rests in the stationary casing 11. ;The inner bearing ring rotates with the the lower end of the shaft runs, and with a self-centering bearing E in which the shaft is supported near its upper end below the f bowl and which permits the shaft to change its position automatically in a lateral direction in seeking its natural axis of rotation. The weight of the shaft, bowl and contents is supported b the upper bearing E and not by the lower hearing or bushing, D, which merely centers the shaft and holds the shaft in'position against lateral displacement.

The lower bearing 0r bushing D may be mounted in the frame C in any suitable manner and is shown as being "seated in a socket 10 which is secured in the frame.

The self-centering supporting bearing E is constructed as follows: 11 represents a casing which incloses and confines the bearing and which is seated in a socket 12 in the. frame and provided with a screw cap 13. 14- represents a supporting or equalizing ring which is movably seated in a cavity 15 in the casing. This cavity or concave seat is spherical in form and the lower face of the ring which rests in the cavity is correspondingly convex or spherical so that the ring can tilt in the cavity. The upperface or top surface 16 of the equalizing ring is plane or horizontal. 17 represents antifriction balls whichare arranged between inner and outer concentric bearing rings 18 and 19- in opposing ball grooves formed, respectivel in the inner face of the outer .rin face of the inner ring. The alls are preferably retained in spaced relation between the bearing rings by a spacing device 20 which may be of any-suitable construction. The

outer bearing ring 19 rests at its lower edge upon the equalizing ring 14, on which it is free to slide horizontally or sidewise in the casing, while the inner bearing ring l8bears and turns freely on the balls and supports the shaft. The latter has. a neck 21 of spherical form by which it rests and is capable of tilting on a suitably shaped annular face 22 in the upper edge of the ring. The central opening of the inner bearing ring is ofsufiiciently larger diameter than the shaft to allow this tilting of the shaft in the ring.

The weight of the shaft and the parts supported thereby is transmitted in an oblique, downward and outward direction and the outer bearing ring to the equalizing ring on which the outer ring rests and which spindle and on the balls, which latter are adapted to revolve about the shaft in the and t e outer v outer bearing-ring. The inner and outer bearing rings and balls shift or slide sidewise as a .unit on the equalizing ring during the self-centering action, and also tilt with the equalizing ring in the spherical cavity or seat in the casing, ,and the shaft is further enabled to tilt in the inner bearing ring by means of the spherical neck 21 rocking or tilting on the annular supporting face 22 of the inner ring. These two spherical or tilting joints, one between the shaft and the bearing and the other between the bearing and its stationary'support, together with the adaptability 'of the bearing rings and balls to shift bodily sidewise, enable the bearing to always assume a position in which it stands at right angles to the natural axis of rotation of the shaft, and the latter is thereby enabled to rotate freely and without vibration about its natural running axis or axis of gravity. The comparatively small sidewise movement ofthe upperportion of the shaft which occurs in the self-centering action is permitted by reason of the slight play between the lower bearing and the spindle, which is necessarily present in a running fit of a shaft in its bearing. The bearing thus permits the shaft to both tilt and shift sidewise in seeking the natural axis of rotation, and by reason of the described construction in which the antifriction balls are arranged between inner and which are adapted to shift sidewise with the tively, with the self-centering bearing and the lower bearing. The ball bearing itself, comprising the inner ring 18, the outer ring 19 and the balls 17, forming a unitary structure, is of well known construction and not claimed herein by itself.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with a vertical shaft, of a self-centering supporting bearing comprising an inner and an outer bearing ring having ball grooves in their opposing concentric faces, balls arranged in said gWmYGS and movable sidewise with said rings as a unit, said inner ring resting on said balls and supporting said shaft, said shaft and said inner ring having rounded surfaces forming a spherical joint which enables the shaft to tilt in said ring, and a tilting support on which said outer ring rests and is laterally movable and to which the load is transferred from the balls by said outer ring, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' MATTHEW L. I'IOYT.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. W. BELLINGER, H. FELDMEIER. 

